New Moon is not the end! TT
by Chi Cullen
Summary: In the moments before I took that final human breath, my life flashed before my eyes. The funny part was that they all seemed to include Edward. My life started with him. Meeting him the meadow all the way up to that fateful wedding just weeks before.
1. Prelude to the interesting stuff XP

New Moon is NOT the End (ECLIPSE)

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**Okay, so I just wanna add in a couple of disclaimers, so here they are: I am up at 11:42, because it wouldn't let me on before then, so I BETTER get some reviews XD. Now, this is my 1st fanfic, so be brutal. I'd also like to tell you that this story wasn't meant for so it's a different format, I just happened to find out about the site frome a friend(Shout out to C.M.!!!) and so just try to put up with the parts that kind of explain the story, kk? Oh, and I know the 1st chapter aint so spectacular, but give me a chance to type, it gets interesting(I kind of went overbord, and have-currently-195-yup, thats the exact number- written pages!! Big shockers await thee who enter thy fanfic!!! Also: BACK OFF 'CAUSE EDWARD'S MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!luv ya, Chi**

I walked to the front door and took a deep breath.

"Aren't you coming?" I tried to hide the utter horror in my expression. I'd just realized that Edward was no longer behind me; he was already getting into the driver's side of his silver Volvo.

"I don't think that I would be much of a help, what with…" He glanced at the red motorcycle, glistening in the drive next to me. "Well, Charlie isn't exactly my biggest fan, and it _is_ my fault that you- well-"Why was it so hard for him to say? Was it just the guilt, or was it something else? I loved it when Edward struggled for words; it was so…_human_, next to his many _inhuman_ qualities.

"Well then, don't you feel responsible for fixing this?" I gave a half-hearted smile, and, predicting his answer, turned my back to his distant figure, and honey-velvet laughter.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN, I CAN SEE YOU! GET IN HERE NOW!" Charlie-my father- was on the hunt, and headed for the door.

_Oh, CRAP. _I braced myself for the attack… that still didn't help. He threw the door open and thrust himself out at me.

To my intense disbelief, he threw his arms around me, and held me there.

"DAD-CAN'T-BREATHE!" I gasped for the air which did not come.

He let me go. "A _MOTERCYCLE?"_ His voice was furious as he bellowed the words to my face. But his eyes were loving and protective, like he had seceded to become a father while I was at school. Both of the features held a frighteningly scared look. I didn't like that look. Charlie never really was great shakes at expressing himself, but he was getting better…unfortunately. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WHY, WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? TO YOURSELF… DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE HOW TO RIDE THIS THING? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED BELLA! Why would you put this on me or Renee…?"

He broke off at the mention of my mother-his ex-wife. But he had stopped yelling.

Yet, I would rather have had him yell at me, then finish in this disappointed, hurt tone. He had been betrayed, and there was no way to take that back.

"I'm sorry." Tears welled up in my eyes, making my speech almost entirely inaudible.

I tried in vein attempts to wipe them away. What would I tell him? I decided on the truth, it was the only way to fix the broken man in front of me.

"Um, dad, maybe we should go sit down inside." I looked up at him. After his red cheeks paled, he looked almost sheepish at his outburst, but I felt that he had good reason to be mad.

When I was seven, he had made me take an oath that I would never ride, or drive, a motorcycle. Charlie was the chief of police in Forks, and in Forks, nothing remotely exciting ever happened. For a cop anyway. But what with Fork's non-stop rain reputation, more then enough motorcycles had skidded around the twisting roads, on the wet greenery. In most car accidents, people walked away, unscathed, but in motorcycle accidents, the victims were usually less fortunate teens.

Charlie had plenty of reasons to keep yelling at me, and only one to stop. But the thought of getting some answers stopped his rage… for at least the moment.

We walked inside to the living room. For once, we sat there without the ESPN background music to back up our swallowed conversations.

He looked across at me from his normal chair. I closed my eyes, and began the explanation.

"It started a couple of months ago, January, I think. The day you, um, woke me up." I stumbled over each word. By waking up, I meant the day that he had brought me out of my five month zombie-phase; a five month period when I talked to no one who did not ask me a question, and offered nothing. I thought nothing as well; it was like all I did for those few months was waste a chunk of my life.

"The day after that, I decided to kind of get revenge on Edward, for making a promise that he had broken the moment he made it. He told me it would be as though he never existed." As the memory was brought back, a burning hole ripped my chest open, as it had done every night of not being a zombie-that was, the days before Edward had come back into my life. "Obviously, that didn't happen, and I didn't want to be the holder of a broken contract.

"My side of the deal was to not be reckless, and if I wanted to be reckless, why not break two promises at one? I did something stupid, and I broke my promise to you. There was a house with some free motorbikes in front, and even though I knew that they didn't work, I figured that maybe Jacob could fix them up for me." I twisted my fingers through each other, not looking at Charlie.

"That's what you did at Jacob's house all that time." He hissed. I nodded.

"Then Jake taught me how to ride them."

"And once you broke both promises, why didn't you stop, Jacob said it continued through almost all the time that you were with him." He accused.

"Well-I-"what should I tell him? Would confessing about hearing Edward's voice every time I used the formula: Stupidity-adrenalin-and danger, do anything helpful?

"I'm waiting." Charlie was never a very patient person.

I sighed, "Well, and don't get mad, but every time I did something dangerous, I had hallucinations of Edward's voice, yelling at me."

"Ed-ward…he was the cause of…" He spoke in a forcibly placid voice.

My mouth and eyes both widened in horror. "No, dad, it's not like that! Edward took no part in this; it was _my_ way of dealing with…" Even the memory of it was unbearable. I clutched at my chest, where the hole had not been for so long.

"IF HE HADN'T EVER LEFT YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEN YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THIS!" His voice got louder with every word. He was no longer trying to restrain his indignity.

"NO DAD, YOU'RE NOT BLAMING THIS ON HIM! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT! NOTHING IS EVER HIS FAULT!" I tried to match his tone, and it worked, except for the prominent tears at the end which developed into sobs.

He didn't loosen his fist, but he didn't retaliate either, which was somewhat reassuring.

"Why can't you see that? He had nothing to do with this, okay? It was my idea, and it was stupid, but it worked! And I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it's true. And thanks to Jacob, and everything, it did! He's back, and I am unjustifiably happy!" I said the last word rather awkwardly through my enraged sobs.

Charlie did loosen his fists now, but rather than do the sensible thing and comfort me, he took a step back. "He should never have come back. You were doing great with Jacob. And you didn't see yourself those couple of months. It was like you were-I don't know, like you were a-"

"A zombie?" I predicted his last word.

"Exactly, maybe, if he'd never left, things would be different." He was more defined, and dignified now.

"But, if Dr. Cullen and Mrs. Cullen really wanted to move, they couldn't just leave him here." I invented an excuse quickly.

"He is eighteen now, and he was eighteen then." Charlie pointed out.

"Dad, you can't ask him to throw away his entire family to make me happy! Dad," I sighed, "Edward is the best thing that has ever happened to me. There aren't words for the way I feel. It's like I used to be fine with the cards I was dealt, right? Then, I got the 'Edward card,' and now I don't want, or need, any of the other ones. Why can't you be supportive, instead of shunning one of the only solaces that Forks has brought me?" The tears came back…fast.

Any other father, again, would comfort their child when she was in this much pain, but Charlie backed still further away. He looked scared, no, not scarred, horrified.

"You and Edward-" He looked faint. Was he really that obliviously in denial? Edward and I were no longer trying to hide our love.

There was a pause, and then he broke it. "He's not just your boyfriend, is he?" He sat back down.

"Define boyfriend?" My words came out as a question. Ws it just my imagination, or did I really see a fleeting look of triumph in his eyes before he spoke again?

He chuckled darkly, but then, his features changed as realization caught up with his reason.

"Bella, you haven't…" He broke off, blushing heavily. What was the punch-line? I had defiantly missed something.

He moaned something that sounded a lot like_ where's your mother when you need her?_ But I couldn't be sure. He took several deep breaths before continuing. "Bella-you and Edward, never… I mean your still a… You've never _been_ _with _Edward. H-have you?" He braced himself as though dreading the answer.

When realization finally caught up with _me_, I too, blushed a fairly considerable shade of scarlet. "NO, DAD. It's not like that, we just-I mean we never-NO." I really didn't want to be having this conversation with Charlie. Wasn't this a mom-daughter conversation? Much less, one that I'd already had with my mother as soon as I'd turned sixteen.

But my words were true. All thanks to Edward and his stupid rules. Edward had several boundaries set agenst our…physical relationship. Needless to say, however, that my father had many, many more. But at least it made Charlie sigh in relief.

"I know you love him. I know more than you think I do." I froze with shock as he actually said the 'L' word. But as to the part about him knowing more than I think he does… Well, yeah right! I was the only mortal keeper of a three-hundred year old secret, entrusted in me by all seven of the Cullens. My second family. But Charlie interrupted my disbelief. "You would do anything for him, I know. You would sell your soul, and I can't stop that relationship so easily, can I?" What was with Charlie today? When did he become the expert on relationships? His had only lasted a few years into marriage, before Renee had left him, bringing me right along with her. "Tell me the truth, how far _does _this go? And, Bella, the TRUTH." He emphasized the last word with heavy burden. "Tell me, does he feel the same? Does he even know the intensity of what you feel?" Okay, this was too much. Charlie doesn't get expressive. Why all of a sudden was he so interested in my life?

"What does it matter to you? You never seemed to care before… Why the sudden rush to intrude on my social life?" Oops, I didn't mean to get as nasty as I felt. But the plus side to my reaction was it did the trick. He was momentarily distracted from his interrogation.

"Because, I am your father, and I might want some sort of warning before you decide to do something juristic, and… I don't know, get pregnant, or married, or something." He said this all very fast…for Charlie's speech anyway.

I gaped, openmouthed at him. When did he get protective, or parental in any way? And why did he have to start with something like this?

I was so preoccupied with hating the conversation, that his words only hit me a minute later. But when they did, they hit hard… Really hard. In fact, once I interpreted his words, the blood pressure in my brain built up so high, that I started to lose consciousness. This isn't anything to fear, really. I was in the hospital day in and day out. I tended to be in danger of breaking something every time I stood up-and even sometimes while sitting. Fainting is just what I do.

But this particular moment, it was not at the sight of blood-which I tended to pass out at too-or any pain, or unnatural excitement. It was because of what Charlie had just said-_Get married._ This one hit a little too close to home, because Edward had proposed to me once before. I was actually starting to wonder why I declined. It would give me a more than reasonable excuse for spending even more time with him… Not that that was possible, we had almost all our classes together, and he came to my house every night until nine o'clock sharp, when he was shoved out the door by a grimly satisfied Charlie, only to come back through my window after returning his Volvo to his house-moving almost literally at the speed of light to run back to my house and climb lithely through my window.

There was one huge reason to not get married. The truth was that I was only eighteen. My mother had stringent rules about marrying before you're thirty. Her and my father got married when she was eighteen, and well, that didn't go as planned.

By the time I had thought this, I was no longer breathing.

"BELLA?" Finally he came to my side.

"Wha? Oh, oops." I revived.

"Are you feeling okay?" Now, he looked utterly alarmed.

"Um, yeah, I think I'm fine." I sat up, shaking my head to dispel the blackness that was still trying to conquer my conscious mind.

As I thought about the reason behind my fainting spell further, my heart leaped, but my stomach sank. I'd really blown it this time. But I wasn't ready to get married yet. I had a whole life in front of me, right? Wrong. I was not going to live the life of just another human, after graduation, Carlisle-Dr. Cullen and Edwards "adopted" father, who was more of a father to me than Charlie ever was, even though he was only 27 and would be forever (and had been for nearly three-hundred years) - promised to give me the thing I most desired in the entire universe. Edward. Well, of course I already had that, but to be with him forever, until time itself ran out. Carlisle had promised to bite me, which was the only way to become… _One of them_. A Cullen… A vampire.

I never liked calling them that. Not only was it an insult about the whole: bats; capes; burning in sunlight-clichés. But the Cullens were far too extraordinary to sum up in a seven letter word. The title God didn't even come close, though.

"What exactly made you pass out?" He wasn't giving up that easy.

He had his hand supporting my back, and the other hand was rubbing my knee in an awkward, comforting gesture that only made me feel more self-conscious.

I shrugged that question off. "What made you say the thing about marriage?" I tried to be inconspicuous, using my best off-hand voice, but I don't think it worked to that particular effect.

To add to my confusion, Charlie blushed again. "Oh, well, that… It's nothing, just that well; you're the same age as your mother was when we had our wedding, and I…" The memory was too painful for him to reminisce on, but he took a few very deep breaths, and continued. "I had proposed to her a year after we met. A year after you met Edward was a while ago, and I still didn't know you were in-well, you know. I just want to be prepared if… And um, I really can't contradict you on your decision without being hypocritical."

My mouth was open wide by the time he was completely finished, gaping with incredulity at the man who despised the very existence of my Edward, and was now almost hoping that I would get married to.

"Not everyone's relationships turn out like yours and moms, dad." I only realized the double meaning of my words a second after they had left my stupid mouth.

I _meant_ that not everybody gets married after a single year of dating, but Charlie probably misinterpreted the meaning for not every body's relationships last for less then five years. Both of the statements were true, and if Charlie decided on the ladder, he would defiantly be sulky. Charlie had never gotten over my mother. Renee had found Phil about three years ago, so she was okay-actually, she was far more than okay-with her love-life. But Charlie was unmistakably still in love with my mother. The evidence was everywhere. He had even still had their wedding photographs hanging everywhere, before I had explicitly removed them from the primacies, which was secretly the attic, but I had told Charlie that they had been taken away with the garbage to be set ablaze, and buried deep within the ground for as long as time would allow its decomposition to take place. A clean break was best for someone like Charlie or me.

This aroused something in my mind. Something very unwelcome that was supposed to be hidden beneath layers of psychosis for all of eternity. _A clean break_, I remembered that fateful day in the forest, clear as glass. The day that Edward had decided to give me the messiest clean break in the history of the universe. The day that he left me for what seemed like forever. Then, that triggered another unwanted memory from that very day. _It will be as if I never existed._ What a lie that was. Edward existed so very fully every day, even when he had left me.

"I know," Charlie interrupted my hyperventilation episode before it got bad enough for him to notice. "Its just that, you're a legal adult now, so I can't really control you with any more than the house rules like I've been." He bowed his head in shame.

So all this time, I could have been out and about, while I had been under a false house-arrest?

"Are you saying you want me to move out?" I asked, still incredulous. How dare he? I had cooked, cleaned, and cared for him ever since I came to live with him two Januarys ago, and he was repaying me by trying to chuck me out on the streets before I was even half ready. I jumped to this conclusion rather fast, but what else could that mean?

He read my face well enough to realize that he had stepped -or pole-vaulted- over some invisible line or other. "No! I just… want you to be happy, and if that means you being with Edward forever, then, so be it. I'm not stopping you anymore. I'm tired of being mad at you, and having you never speaking to me."

I jumped up, shaking my head slowly, as if to say; "that is still not enough, dad," and stormed out of the room.

"I-I'm going out, dad." I yelled. I decided that I could not stay in my room forever, and as long as being grounded was only in my head, why not escape him entirely? In fact, why not escape Forks on the whole?

I was intent on going to Jacob's house on the Quileute Indian reservation in La Push. He was going to pay for this highly 'interesting' conversation with Charlie. If Jacob hadn't told him about the bikes-intent on purposely grounding me-, he would not have had this little sit-down, would we? Jake had it coming, and it would come!

I got outside, and the first thing I saw was that damn silver Volvo. Edward, I knew, would without a doubt, try to prevent my going to the reservation.

Edward, being…what he was, was condemned to be the single mortal enemy of werewolves. My friend Jacob happened to be one, and the hate was mutual.

But I had been friends with Jacob since before his metamorphosis into a wolf. Actually, I had known Jacob ever since he was born, our fathers were friends. But a few months ago, we really started hanging out. I mean really hung out. On a daily basis, I would go to Jacob's place, and watch him fix two destroyed motor-bikes. I watched them transform into working machines in no time. Then he taught me how to ride them, thus: taking the intended revenge on Edward's broken promise.

Edward got out of his car and ran to close the door to my truck before I had finished opening it. He was quicker then lightning, just one of his many perfect attributes that came from being a-as Jacob called them-_Cold_ _One._ Actually, Jacob had many nic-names for my second family. Leach was one, and blood-sucker. But cold one was the official name given to them by none other then the Quileutes themselves.

Edward grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face him. His eyes were smoldering, making me forget all about stupid Jacob.

I was pinned to the truck by Edward's entire body when he spoke. "Why are you upset?" His breath took mine entirely away, and all I could do was stare into his gorgeous eyes. Why was I upset in the first place again? Edward's endless eyes made me forget about that as well. Everything was messed up in a surreal kind of way, but at the same time, nothing was wrong.

I shrugged, he chuckled.

"Come with me." He whispered and kissed the very top of my forehead as I tried to remember exactly how one breathes. This was not unusual, Edward often rendered me breathless. Not only was it on a daily basis, but just every time our eves met, or he touched me. This happened to be a dangerous combination of the two. I nodded and got into the passenger's side of that silver car I could never get mad at.

As I looked up at the house one last time, I saw Charlie's face peeking through the blinds. I could have sworn he had given Edward a thumbs-up signal. Then he was gone.

"So, what did I miss?" Edward pulled me back to a surreal reality with difficulty.

"Huh?" Miss? What had he heard? Oh, God, what had he heard?

"Well, I heard the first part." He looked at me sideways to make sure that I hadn't died of mortification yet... Yet. "Then I saw his thoughts. The conclusions his mind went to made me run, but then-."

I cut him off. "You were listening? Tell me you're kidding. That you find it amusing to see me in this distress. Anything but listening to that!" I moaned audibly, burrowing my scarlet face into my hands. It took me several deep soothing breaths to calm down. "What did you hear, exactly?" My voice shook with indefinable rage. No particular reason I should get angry, I was simply angry in general at this moment. Why did he have to be eves-dropping? Oh, right, because he was Edward, and that is what he does. I wasn't mad at him; actually, I was slightly flattered that he cared enough to listen to the conversation, so that he could see if I was in trouble. What I was really angry about was the stupid situation. I didn't want to talk about any part of the argument between my father and me, and here I was, talking to Edward about it. The only person who could really distract me, and he was continuing the brutal conversation. Ugh.

"Bella," it was a warning. "That's not even funny." Then he sighed and continued in a resigned tone, "Well, I heard the first part, then, like I said, I heard the conclusions his mind jumped to, and I ran." He placed one of his perfect hands behind my head to stop it from banging itself on the head rest any more.

The fact that Edward had heard what my dad was _thinking_ was not abnormal. Edward was a special vampire-a word which I try my best to avoid-one who could read minds. Just like Alice could have visions of the future and Jasper could change the emotions of the people around him. Though not all vampires had powers like this, some did, and my Edward happened to be one.

"I heard him ask if I was more then your boyfriend, and that's where I took off. I came back when you were talking about marriage about one second later, about how no one gets married after only one year." I felt a bit self-conscious as the talk turned to marriage, feeling guilty about turning him down. I wondered how his ego had healed. I also wondered if there was any way I could say yes now. I wanted to be with him forever, and if it meant making it legally official, I would live. Planning a wedding might even be fun, I had no clue. But he kept talking so I didn't have all that much time to contemplate just saying yes. "I realized it was immature of me to run away like that.

"Oh, so its immature _not_ to listen in on private conversations now, is it?" I was no longer angry, just being playful and teasing. Edward was like a drug; once I had him, I couldn't help but be happy.

We bickered back and forth like that until we reached the turnoff onto the road leading to his house.

"Oh, we're going home?" The word 'home' felt right as it slipped off of my tongue.

Apparently, he had noticed that, but did not acknowledge it. "Yes." His perfect articulation of even a three letter word did not belong in this century. "Alice and I wanted to talk quickly, then, we're off again."

"Then why not wait until I'm asleep? I don't mind; don't get me wrong, I'm just curious." I gave him Emmett's favorite confused look.

Emmett was one of Edward's "adopted brothers," alongside Jasper, and his two "sisters," Alice and Rosalie. But Emmett was the one who found my many clumsy, very human characteristics highly amusing. My slightest blush could send him into a fit of hilarity until someone had enough sense to smack him out of it-which was usually Rosalie.

Rosalie was Emmett's wife, and together, they mad the happiest couple. Besides Edward and me of course, and they fought sometimes, which was not something anybody wants to get in the middle of.

Then, you have Alice and Jasper. They were a couple too, and you would be hard put to find a couple who understood each other more. Alice was my best friend in the world, and even though that sounds childish, it's true. But Jasper had issues with the diet of the Cullens who, on the whole, refused to kill humans. They fed on animal blood instead. Jasper just struggled with it a little more then the rest of them, and I didn't resent him for wanting to keep his distance from me.

The other two Cullens were the mother and father figure of the family. Carlisle and Esme. Esme was more then a mother, though she was extremely maternal, she was a good friend, a great person-or vampire, whichever.

**HAng in there, it'll get interesting, I promise!! PLEASE Respond, I need feedback, none of my family has read TWILIGHT(what losers!) and my friendswho have regard this as a joke. Thanx.(sniff sniff TT) **


	2. Short, but FluffyOo

Edward pulled my reluctant mind back into reality. "No, I don't think that'll work… Well, you will see, but I was thinking we would go out tonight, just the two of us." His ocher eyes lingered on mine as he parked his Volvo in the drive leading to the immense white house. The Cullen house, AKA, the place that was more like home to me then any stupid human home.

Fluidly, he rose, got out of the car, and darted to the passenger's side to open the door for me. It all happened in the same space of time as it took me to unlatch the seatbelt and free myself.

I stumbled out of the car, falling into his marble arms. He wrapped one arm across my back as the other one lifted his hand to my face to raise my chin to his. He pressed his delightfully cold lips to mine for slightly more then the usual millisecond.

His lips still pressed to mine, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear, and ran his long fingers through my tangled locks.

My heart was throbbing like that of a hummingbird's, I could not take it. I swear, even at his lightest, most casual touches, my heart stopped. When he kissed me-unexpectedly, like now-I stood no chance agenst the force fainting. For the second time that day, I lost consciousness.

"BELLA?" I heard the fear in his voice, and didn't like it.

"Ugh. I hate doing that, what is wrong with me? I'm the most pathetic excuse for a human there ever was, and you still love me. I will never fathom why." He loosened up, laughing with relief that I was okay.

"You mean the way that I will never comprehend why you fell in love with a masochistic monster? God, we are the weirdest possible couple out there."

"Maybe that's why we're so perfect for each other. The Yin to the Yang."

"Or, maybe God got bored and decided to have fun testing his loyal subjects to see how far we'd go until we crack." He was so stubborn.

"Excuse me, but I fell in love on my own. I rather think that God disagrees with us, why else would he state such blatant hate for us." I was, of course, referring to the fact that whatever had the chance to stand in the way of our love had seemed to find its way there, and yet, one by one, each problem came out defeated, no matter the odds.

"I don't doubt that." He chuckled blackly.

We turned to walk, but his arms barley moved. The arm around my spine twisted to my waist, but his eyes stayed locked on mine, and his hand traced my chin. This was an accident waiting to happen, being a klutz like me, and not watching where I was going. Plus the scattered surrounding trees.

And happen it did… repeatedly. I kept falling, and Edward kept catching my waist. Rather than speeding up with the fear of falling and breaking a vital limb, my heart sped with his grasp and his fingers tracing miscellaneous shapes up and down my scarlet cheeks.

I made it to the door unscathed, with the exception of my red cheeks. Edward didn't reach for the handle, for Alice had opened it just as we got there.

She glanced back and forth between my reddened face and Edward's overly affectionate eyes. He didn't look away as she looked confusedly between us, making me blush harder.

Her face went from confused to frustrated. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth, and hugged me, tearing Edward's arms and gaze from me.

"You asked her? Without me? And I didn't see the answer? What's going on?" She turned to Edward, whose eyes were warning far too late.

"Ask me what without Alice? See what answer?" It was my turn to glance between them.

Alice's facial expression turned into horror faster than you could say 'oops.' "Oh, crow! You didn't ask her yet, did you? Oh, my, gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"ASK ME WHAT?" I didn't strictly _need_ to be so frustrated, but I hate surprises, and I was apparently the only one not in on it.

They exchanged a look before Edward dropped to his knees. _What was going on? Could vampires have heart-attacks? Well, that was an obvious 'no'; his heart didn't beat at all. But what then? Huh?_

Then I saw that he was holding something. Something small. Small and shiny. It reminded me of Edward in the sun. Then, the tears welled up. My hands flew subconsciously to my mouth.

"Bella?" His voice was shaking, though he could not cry. "Formally, wi-"

I put a shaking index finger to his perfect, marble lips. I too said nothing. I nodded, as the tears of joy streamed down my face.

He slipped the brilliantly clear, princess cut, five karat, pink diamond onto my finger. As he stood, he never let goof my hand. With the other, he held my neck. And, right in front of Alice, he kissed me.

I didn't see them all come, but when I resurfaced, the _entire_ Cullen/Hale family was standing there. I'd noticed before- but never really thought about-the fact that the whole family was made of couples. Alice's head rested on Jasper's arm; Emmett's and Rosalie's fingers were intertwined; and Carlisle and Esme had their arms around each other. All of their eyes were on me and Edward, standing in the doorway.

My scarlet face went maroon and Emmett chuckled lightly, not his usual bear-like one, but more loving and brotherly.

Alice gave me a look that clearly stated that she was already making wedding plans for us. She would, of course, be my maid of honor.

There was a highly uncomfortable-for me anyway- silence. To my utter astonishment, Rosalie broke it. She burst into applause, laughing with joy, leaning into Emmett as she did so. Esme joined in, followed by Carlisle, and Alice. Emmett wolf-whistled as I cried and laughed. Jasper refused to take his arms off of Alice, but he smiled reassuringly all the same.


	3. please read me whimer

Hey,

Just an author's note, but I want you to read it anyway.

PLEASE respond! Even if you just send a thing that says 'X,' or ',' I just want to know that you cared enough to read it, okay? Because I'm really kind of bummed that I only got 9 reviews so far-yeah, I know, I'm selfish, what else is new? –But thank you SOOOOOO much to those 9 people who DID review. You really made my days!!!

Also, constructive (or non-constructive) criticism is welcome with open arms.

For those of you wondering why I haven't updated in so long, it's because I've been busy being sick, and when I am sick, I am banned from the computer.

This one I'm adding in because I feel like it, and think you have the right to know that by reading my stuff, you will never-when reading a disclaimer- hear the end of the fact that I'm writing my this all down before I type it, and I write faster than I type, so while I am on page 23 of typing, I have a whopping current total of **233** written pages!!! Oh, and within those pages… let's just say you might want to read with a rusty spoon and some salt next to your computer to help you gouge your eyes out. There is one chapter that I wrote that I'm not putting in the book, 'cause I'd have to rate it **M** if I did, but if I get enough reviews, I might just put it in a disclaimer (okay, another one like this, where it is a disclaimer-chapter) for your own amusementjump puppy jump for the stick. P.S. send me reviews if you think I should actually hold that little contest, or not!!

Yeah, I know you're bored of me, so I'll go now. BYE!!


	4. kinda short oops

I was in Edward's room, lounging on the sofa. Edward himself was downstairs, fighting off the crowd of Cullens. Jasper and Emmett were just complimenting him on the kiss when he threw the door open.

If Edward could blush, I'm sure he would have.

He hit the 'play' button on his super-high-tech CD player, and glided to my side. Before I could so do much as sit up to make more room on the couch for him, he'd scooped me up with both arms (really only needing one), sliding under me, placing me in his lap.

"Why didn't you react this way last time?" He asked in a playfully exasperated voice.

I shrugged.

What did it matter? I really only wanted one question answered… How did he _plan_ on asking me? Surely that wasn't a setup.

He moaned. "I will never get used to not hearing your thoughts. But I'm sorry, and so is Alice. Overexcited, you know. It wasn't supposed to be like this." He rubbed my arm apologetically.

"How was it supposed to go, then?" I tucked my head happily into his cold neck, happily.

"Well, I would just have made the final preparations with Alice now. Then, we were going to the meadow. _Our_ meadow. We had the whole clearing lined with little Christmas lights. We also had a stereo up there, we put in a copy of the CD I made for your last birthday"-I gulped just remembering that fateful day-"in there." He played idly with the square ring on my finger. Small 'x' shaped lights played across his white skin.

The soft-jazz number played on in the background. Then we heard a light knock at the door.

"Come in." Edward spoke with volume no greater than our conversation. "Alice," he clarified for my benefit.

She swept in, looking awkwardly apologetic. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry." I shook my head. She took it for what it meant, and galloped the rest of her way into the room. She perched on the end of Edward's sofa, resting on the armrest.

"So, where are you holding the wedding?" She asked brightly.

My stomach plummeted to somewhere bellow my knees…Wedding?

Edward chuckled and pulled me closer to him, meaning that I lost all sense of insecurity. "Who knows?" He asked Alice sarcastically.

"Oh, fine, here." She predicted.

Uh-oh. "What?" I asked terrified, "I can't walk over the jungle of your front lawn in a wedding gown, and not while everybody is watching!"

Both of them laughed. I swallowed heavily, and then beat the back of my head on Edward's chest. "OUCH!" That would need ice later. Beat me with an ice sculpture, why didn't I?

Edward sighed, placing his palm to the sore part of my head. Instant relief flooded over me.

"Seriously though, I can't see anything beyond that until you decide, so we need plans." Her eyes twinkled. I could tell she was itching to play dress-up with me again, as she had done for prom, nearly one year ago.

"Not tonight, okay?" Edward saved the moment.

Alice's face fell. "Well, it's getting dark, so you should get going." She winked conspicuously at Edward, who glared back.

Edward stood up, and it was a moment before I realized that he was carrying me, cradling me in his arms.

I leaned my head to his shoulder, sighing as I did so. I felt the shaking of his silent laughter through his entire torso.

I heard the door close, meaning that we were alone again.

"I think that if we walk downstairs like this, Jasper and Emmett will _never_ let me live it down. Yeah, lose term by 'live' but they'll never forget it." I reluctantly picked my head up at his words.

He set me on my feet, but never let me go. He twisted his arm around the small of my back, and we walked out of the room.

"Esme wants a word." Edward growled, rolling his eyes.

"I can wait here." I unwrapped my arm from its place around his middle.

"No, Love, she wants a word with you." He chuckled lightly.

At that moment, Esme came around the bend. Ignoring Edward completely, she smiled at me. "Bella, congratulations. This is wonderful! It's just, well, can I steal you for a moment?" If there was any possibility that she could cry, she would have.


	5. still kinda short SORRY!

**Okay, I am VERY sorry that I haven't been updating, but now that I have basically read EVERY fanfiction that there is-which was the cause of my absence-I will hopefully be able to type more. I now have 344 pages currently written, but only the first 18 typed. So, read and review. Oh and a shout-out to my friend, ErraticMarauder!!!!**

**Oh and I am now holding a trivia contest, so look for the questions at the bottoms of chapters!**

I nodded as she pulled me away from Edward. We walked to the front door, and she stepped onto the porch.

There was an awkward silence as she dug her hands into the pockets of her blue-jeans and I twisted the diamond ring around my finger.

"Uh, so, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. The finger with my ring on it was starting to get irritated.

"I know I shouldn't be ruining your night like this, but-" she patted my shoulder maternally-"How do you plan on breaking this to your parents? I mean, you were hesitant last time because of Renee, weren't you? I know this was more… intriguing, but have you considered that your mother may still stand the same?"

Uh-oh. "I didn't think about it. I was just so overwhelmed tonight-so eager-I didn't even _think_ about _not_ accepting. I suppose that was my problem last time." I really did trust Esme more than I thought I did. Out of all of the Cullens, Rosalie was the only one I knew less than my second mother, _soon to be mother-in-law,_ my brain reminded me, making my stomach flip. "I guess my mom will just have to live with it. But Charlie…" I sighed.

No matter what Charlie said this afternoon about it being my choice, I didn't think he really expected me to go and get engaged two hours later.

"He's been taken care of." Even though it had only been a minute or two since I had heard it last, Edward's voice melted my heart as he spoke. The voice of my fiancé. Whoa, that would take some getting used to. He closed the door behind himself as he walked out to meet us.

"Wha-" I asked, slightly dazed.

"All that talk, before you left… that was a setup. O asked his permission yesterday. He seemed reluctant at first, but eventually he saw that I was serious about loving you, and was convinced. That and Alice helped him understand that I would never do you wrong again." Oh, Charlie had always had a soft spot where Alice was concerned. What man wouldn't, and Charlie was only human. "Of course," Edward took my hand in his, letting my fingers fall through his, "I never expected the whole Jacob-" he snarled subconsciously-"thing to occur, but Charlie seemed to recover nicely."

Jacob? Oh no, I hadn't thought about Jacob, yet, either. What was this going to do to him? That's when I realized just how many little obstacles stood in our way. We had known the big things, like mortality and predator/prey relations, but how many people frowned upon this? More than I had realized, apparently.

"Well, you two had better get going. I will see you later." Esme winked at me and retreated into the house.

"That was an oddly pointless conversation." I willed myself not to look confused.

Edward said nothing as we went to the car. Nor did he look me in the eye. Every now and then, he would squeeze my hand, but he never pulled me closer than two feet away. So different was this treatment from the one on the way in that it scarred me. Had I done something wrong?

We made it to the car in silence. He opened my door and when I fumbled over the belt-buckle, he grinned and leaned over to help. For a second, I thought we were past whatever was bothering him, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, it didn't even reach close to trying to. Still, he said nothing.

As we drove down the twisting lane, I turned my new ring around and around my finger, admiring it from every angle. Was this a mistake? I thought he wanted to get married to make us closer, but it didn't seem to be. Maybe he had only shown so much affection to me because he wanted to be able to keep me, now that I had agreed to be his forever, it didn't matter so much. No! This was Edward, I was thinking about. But this explained a lot. Like why he loved me in the first place.

A single tear ran down my left cheek, the cheek closest to Edward.

"Having second thoughts?" His tone was light, but his eyes didn't match. They were dark, protective, and stationary. Still, his tone of voice convinced me for at least the moment that he loved me.

I didn't answer. I just sighed. I didn't want him to see the doubt in my eyes.

"So," He let go of my hand, making my heart fall to my navel, before realizing that he let it go to play with my hair. I forgot all about the fear of doing something to cause the silence. "You never _really_ answered my question about the sudden change of heart." _Finally_, he looked into my eyes.

Did I really have to breathe?

"Was it the ring?" I may not have been able to read his mind, but I was pretty sure that he was thinking that if the answer to that question was yes, then he was now aloud to buy m expensive gifts, something I had and would never let him do.

"In your dreams," I teased. "I am pretty sure that it was just the officiality of this time. Last time, you didn't get down on one knee, or-" I paused to wipe away a fresh wave of tears.

He leaned into me to wipe one out of the corner of my eye the corner of my eye that I had missed. Then with the other he patted my leg. Why had I ever doubted his love? How stupid could I be?

Still, I hated it when he wasn't paying any attention to the road.

The hand in my leg moved to the seat-belt lock and clicked it. He slid the belt back into the slot above my right shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I asked, voice coated with pure terror. Bad luck tended to pick on me, but who was to say that I didn't welcome it by being in a car, going at speeds of one-hundred miles an hour, no seat-belt on. It was a disaster in the making.

"Bella," My name in his velvet voice sounded like song. "Would I ever let anything happen to you?" His breath overtook the part of me that had witnessed all of the destruction in the past year.

He slid his icy arm behind my back and turned my waist.

"AAHH!" He laughed at my panic. My shoes hit the window, as he pulled my head to rest on his lap.

I waited for more panic to set in, but I was entirely too comfortable laying in Edward's lap. I knew he would never let me get hurt.

I tried to remember how to get my breath to back to a normal pace, as he traced random lines over my face.

I gasped inwardly as I recognized three symbols: an 'I,' an unmistakable heart, and a definite 'U.'

I sat up as straight as I could through the arm-rest. I reached out my hand to his face, pulled him closer, and leaned in so that our lips touched for a few seconds that went far too quickly.

"Goodness, Bella, sometimes I really don't know you." He laughed his loud, resonating, bark of a beautiful laugh. "One minute, you tell me not to go above speeds of thirty, and keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, then the next, you kiss me while I am doing over a hundred!"

I grimaced. "Sorry, I will make sure that doesn't happen again."

He stuck his tongue out at me. Even at this my heart jumped.

Of course he heard it; that was lady luck slapping me across the face. "What are we going to do with you Bella?" He chuckled lightheartedly.

I was so distracted that I only realized that I wasn't at my house when we parked and I saw that we were surrounded by two sides of woods, one of a trail, and one of road.

"Huh?" I asked. It was a moment before I realized where we were. I recognized the trail, yet never knew where it had led. We were going through the thick forest. "But you already asked me…" This was the forest that led to our meadow.

"And so that means that we can't celebrate it?" He grinned and beckoned me towards him.

I climbed on his back, and he ran.

Exhilarating wasn't enough to described the feeling of the wind in my hair, billowing in my clothing, cold amidst the hot days. I screamed with non-exhilaration or whatever it was, laughing as I did so.

I stroked his bronze-tinted hair, kissing behind his ear, taking in the aroma of his neck. I was no vampire, not wanting to bite into him, but I felt like kissing just wasn't enough.

Before I knew it, we were there. In the meadow. He hadn't been lying about the hundreds of tiny Christmas-lights.

He let me down near a table, on which was a battery powered CD player. Edward walked over to the table and hit the 'play' button.

My lullaby started playing. I wrinkled my nose. The CD player didn't do Edward's piano playing any justice whatsoever.

"Sorry." He apologized.

He took my hand and waist.

"Edward, we've been through this before, I can't dance." I complained childishly as I realized what he was doing. But even as I protested, my hips subconsciously started to sway to the music.

"Yes, and we also went through the fact that I can." He smiled my favorite crooked smile. How could I argue?

**Hope you enjoyed it!!!**

**Well, here is the question: What is Phil and Renee's last name?**

**The first person to guess gets a shout-out and a pat on the head! But seriously, PLEASE try!**


	6. OMC I have not typed in a while!

A/N: AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! To all those who are wondering why I just posted chapter six twice in one day, it is because I messed up BIG TIME! Not only did I not save some of it, but I typed another part twice!!!!! AAHHH!!! I now have sympathy for Harry Clearwater, and his fatal heart-attack! THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU, Emo-anime-lover66!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you SOOOO much for the heads up!!!!!!!!! I am forever in your debt!

A/N 2: The answer to the quiz-question is Renee and Phil's' last name is 'Dwyer.'

Enjoy!

He picked me up effortlessly, placing his feet under mine.

"Who ordered the plate of flashbacks?" I asked half-heartedly as I relaxed into his neck.

I felt his shaking laughter and his lips on my hair. Then moving from my hair to my ear. Then to my cheek, finally landing on my throat.

"You know, you're not usually this quiet." He accused playfully.

"Just thinking." I sighed.

"About what?" He breathed directly into my ear.

"How Mike's going to take the news." He looked confused for a moment. Then realization dawned on his angelic face.

"This will be fun." He mused.

"Since when are you so sadistic?" I looked into his scheming eyes.

"Since Mike had it coming." He smirked at my grimace.

"What has he ever done to you?" Mike Newton never did anything wrong, but have a crush on the wrong girl with the wrong boyfriend at the wrong time.

"You've never heard his thoughts!" He contradicted. "You didn't hear the thoughts of ev-"

"Every male person if Forks on my first day of school? Yeah I know, you've told me this countless times." I cut him off.

The song ended, fading into the one I recognized as Esme's favorite of Edward's compositions, slightly more aggressive than that of my lullaby.

I didn't get home until late that night. So I had no trouble with falling asleep when I got home.

But that night, I had a weird dream. I was walking down the isle at my wedding. Everything was perfect. Everyone was there. The Cullens, Charlie, Renee, Jacob, Angela, Mike and a bunch of faceless people, who were supposed to be the family of good vampires from Denali, Alaska. The bride's maids wore varying shads of light caramel. My favorite color. The color of Edward's eyes on a good day. And Edward himself. The black of his tuxedo contrasted against his white skin brilliantly. In the afternoon sun, his as well as the other Cullens' skin glistened with the dazzling light of a thousand diamonds, but none of the guests seemed to notice.

Carlisle was performing the ceremony. I guess that my subconscious remembered this past life as a clergyman. Edward was waiting for me under an arch of roses that was no doubt Alice's doing. I wasn't walking down the isle to 'Here Comes the Bride,' but to my lullaby.

I looked down at my gown. Then I realized that the dress's embedded diamonds weren't the only thing shimmering on me. My skin was very iridescent. I too was a vampire.

I reached my place at the archway to Edward. Then I saw that Edward wasn't there. My dream quickly progressed into a nightmare as I realized, to my horror, that I was marrying Mike Newton!

He reached out his hand for me to take. I didn't. Why should I? I was in love, but there stood Edward-the best man.

"You may now kiss the bride." Carlisle bowed his head, taking a step back to give us room.

WHAT?! What happened to the 'I-do's?' I did NOT accept!

"NOOOOOO!" I woke up screaming and kicking and punching the blanket until I was so tangled up in it that I couldn't see.

"Calm down, calm down, Bella! You're okay!" It wasn't Charlie's command. If it were, I wouldn't have calmed down at all, as I did. Instead, Edward plucked me from the blankets.

He carried me over to the rocking chair in the corner. He sat, rocking me back and forth, rubbing my back soothingly in silence.

"Why the panic attack?" He whispered into my ear, breaking the silence.

"Oh, uh, very bad dream." I was too happy here to give details.

"I surmised as much, but what about?" He was drawing little hearts all over my back.

"First, why are you here?" I had just noticed that I had come in and fallen asleep without the routine appearance of Edward. Or so I thought.

"What kind of question is that? When am I not here? You know I have nothing better to do, but come on, I want to hear about this dream." It was true that he had no better way to spend his nights, for Edward could not sleep.

Nearly every night, he would just come in and spend the night, but as far as I knew, he hadn't done so without my knowledge for quite some time.

"I'm too tired to say right now. I'll tell you in the morning, okay?" I yawned, curling up into a ball in his arms. He was no mattress; in fact, I think the floor was less dense, but Edward over-ruled them all, preferable to any mattress you could name.

"Fine, I can't say no when you look so irresistibly cute, but no more dreams about Mike, got it?" He teased.

"What would make you say that?" I asked, sure that he could hear my pulse quicken.

"Bella, Love, you talk in your sleep more than you think. Now would you like to talk, or get some sleep?" He knew my answer, and started humming my lullaby. I would have thought that the lullaby would only remind me of my nightmare, but not in Edward's arms, not while he was the vocalist.

I fell asleep almost instantly.

"Bella, Bella?" I was on my bed under the covers, as Charlie's voice drifted through the door.

"I'm up." I groaned, looking around for Edward.

I heard my dad's feet on the stairs. I walked over to my closet to peer inside.

"Edward?" I whispered into the dark.

"Over here." His voice came from my bed. I turned around to see him sitting on the edge my bed, his arms wide, calling me in. I heeded.

"You'll tell me in the car about the dream, but for now you are going to be late. I'll drive you today, it'll be much faster." He smiled that irresistible crooked smile that I loved so much.

"Okay." I looked at my bed-spread, rather than at his stunning face. I didn't like it when he picked on my truck, however indirectly he did so. So what if it was over fifty-years old and didn't reach speeds above fifty-five? It had its own personality.

He lifted me momentarily, slid out from under me, kissed my forehead swiftly, and was gone. I made it through the morning and down to breakfast before I had realized that I had a ring on my finger! That's when it _really_ hit me. I WAS GOING TO BE MARRIED!


	7. trying to type more, sorry!

**Hello, and thank you for waiting. Even though Eclipse has come out, I will continue posting this story until it is flamed by enough people who really should think of something better to do with their time. BIG thank you to SecretlySpellman for being my little spoiler outlet!**

I had to sit down in a chair at the kitchen table while I poured the milk into my cardboard-like cereal.

"You okay, Bells?" Charlie walked in.

I could tell he really was in on the whole proposal thing because he wasn't even trying to be inconspicuous about looking at my left hand.

"Bella, you said yes?!" He looked more shocked than was truly called for. "Oh my God, it's amazing!" Didn't women usually marvel over the ring?

I looked down at my hand. It really was amazing. It was _pink_, but it was amazing.

"How noticeable is it?" I asked, biting my lip.

"You can only see it shining from about a mile away." Yeah, Charlie was MUCH too excited about this.

Uh-oh. It was noticeable? How was I supposed to hide it at school? I wasn't about to take it off, no, that would hurt Edward.

"Well, I am just gonna go." I stood up. I had just heard a car on the driveway.

"Bells, you barely ate a thing." Oh, of course, NOW he starts paying attention to me!

"Um, I'm not hungry-over excitement, you know, the whole bit." I ran for the door, pulling on my rain coat as I went.

Edward was at the door when I opened it.

Making sure that Charlie was nowhere in sight, I stood on my toes to reach his lips. They touched for the slightest of seconds before I pulled away. Charlie was coming.

I knew it didn't really matter now. He knew that we were getting married, so there wasn't a point in hiding ourselves, but there is just something about kissing your fiancée in front of your father that is very unnerving.

I climbed into the passenger's seat of the silver car.

"Hi!"

"AH!" I wasn't expecting to hear Alice's greeting followed by her wind-chime laughter at my head hitting the roof of the Volvo.

"Ow! What is wrong with you?" I moaned, holding my head with both hands.

Alice was still giggling as Edward got into the car. He slid my hands off of my head, placing his own left one there.

His hand worked like an ice-pack again, not to mention the pitter-patter of my heart which made him laugh. I liked that.

"I am sorry, Bella." She articulated every word with finesse. "I saw my car breaking down later today and I can't just run to school, it would attract too much attention." She smiled apologetically. "So Edward offered me a ride."

"Yeah, I did, before I knew you were going to give Bella a concussion!" He shot back at her.

"Would you rather me be stuck on some dirt road in the middle of a desert right now?" She asked as we pulled off the drive-way.

"A) you could drag your car back without anyone seeing. B) There is no desert in Forks. C) Yes, Alice. I really would rather you be somewhere else."

Alice stuck her tongue out behind his back.

Edward pulled his hand away from my head. The pain came back, making my eyes water. "Anything else?"

"Okay, Sor-ry! And Bella, I am sorry." She pecked my cheek.

"So Bella, we had a deal, regardless of the black haired 'thing' in the back." He nodded his head toward Alice, who grimaced in turn. "Your dream?"

"Oh yeah…" And I explained my dream. Actually, once I got started it was hard to stop, so I wound up explaining _everything_ in my dream, down to the arch-way of roses and colors of gowns.

Edward and Alice were a very good audience to my endless ranting. Alice, I could see, was making mental notes about all of my pesky little details. But when I got to the part where Mike Newton came in, Edward gave off a low snarl.

"Behave!" I warned him. "It's not his fault."

"Well it's not yours." He sided.

"It was a dream, let it go." I rolled my eyes.

The explanation, combined with Edward's reckless driving carried us all the way to Forks High-school.

"Now, that's _what_ colored roses on the arch way?" Alice asked eagerly.

"Red." I sighed. If I couldn't fight it, I may as well enjoy it.

"So now, you're having dreams about marrying Mike Newton?" Edward prompted sardonically.

"Nightmare, Edward, and I said drop it." My fingers absently traced the outline of the square ring on my finger.

Realizing this, he reached out and grabbed my left hand. Examining the layered, precise diamond, he held my hand up to kiss it.

I didn't lose consciousness that time, but even that slight touch sent my heart on a marathon.

But was it just me or did he seem distant? He didn't really meet my eyes, though he looked at them. It wasn't right. Whatever had happened last night to make him silent for any period of time appeared to be resurfacing. Either that or he really was insulted that I had a nightmare about Mike. But that was impossible. Edward knew better than any that I had eyes only for him.

We got out of the car without a word. Then I realized that Alice was no longer with us.

"Where'd Alice-" I started before noting that Alice was still in the car, eyes closed. Edward glided over to her side of the car.

"What is it Alice? What did you see?" His voice was nearly too soft for me to hear.

But Alice didn't look at him. Her eyes looked past his onyx ones to penetrate mine.

"What are your plans for tonight?" She asked me. "'Cause you're not going to like what I saw."

To my confusion, Edward went ridged. "Alice, maybe _we_ should talk about what you saw…in private!" He snarled through his gritted teeth.

_What_? This vision was supposed to be about me! How come I wasn't aloud to hear of it?

Alice's eyes widened in horror at his reaction. "No, Edward. Bad phrasing on my part, it's not like that, it's about something stupid." She blurred it all together so quickly that I had to virtually hang on every individual word to make it comprehensible.

"What?" I was definitely missing some vital piece of information.

Alice turned back to me. "Mike Newman likes you a bit too much." She grinned. "He'll be at your window at about eight o'clock pm tonight. He's planning to throw rocks until you come down." She giggled, rolling out of her seat onto sturdy ground, fluently. "Have fun with that!" She chimed her aluminum laugh once more before dancing off to first hour.

"That Over-eager Puppy is going to crack my window!" I whined.

Edward loosened his fists, but his face was still tense, as we walked to our first class.

Though we walked together, we didn't talk all the way through the morning, which was unprecedented unless considering the days prior to the start of my new life. But I made myself promise that that would change by lunch. I mean, hadn't he just asked me to marry him for goodness sake. Didn't he owe it to me to at least look at me?

But he wasn't in the cafeteria. Nor was Alice, for that matter. It didn't make any sense. The weather was perfectly dreary, no forecast for sun or anything. They had no reason to skip class, least of all in the middle of the day. And why on earth did he not tell me that he was leaving?

The anger that churned in my throat must have made its way to the surface of my cheeks, because Angela leaned over and said, "You okay, Bella?"

"Yeah." I sighed, containing myself. I let my cheek fall to rest in my hand.

"Ohhh, nice ring!" She said, reaching for my engagement ring. "You know you're not supposed to have a ring on this finger until you're engaged." She scolded me.

Angela thought that it was just any old ring. My cheeks, already flushed in frustration, turned if possible redder.

"Oh, it's pink, didn't think you liked pink…or jewelry. But it's gorgeous, can I try it on?" She made a slight move to take the ring off of my finger.

"NO!" I pulled back.

"Okay, sorry, if it's that-Bella?" She had started to give in, but then she grabbed my hand before I could pull it away.

"Bella who gave you this ring?" Her voice was sharper than I had heard in a while. Come to think of it, I had never heard her voice so pin-pricked. "I think that's a real diamond! Is it a family heirloom or something? Bella, this is a _wedding _ring." I hated how perceptive Angela could be sometimes.

"It's not a family heirloom, no." I spoke with sincerity, preying that she couldn't see past it. I would have to tell her eventually, but the lunchroom wasn't the best of places.

"Then what is it?" She wasn't giving up that easily. I internally sighed at the thought that I had to tell her. She was to smart to be deceived by _my_ lying techniques. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Um well, after graduation, Edward and I thought that maybe we would um…" I swallowed. "Get married."

I closed my eyes, preparing for the explosion. If there was ever a time that I would get such a lecture…

"MARRIED?!" She drew quite a few eyes from the innocently eating classmen. "Bella, this is huge! HUGE! When did he propose? How? Tell me everything!" She gushed.

"When did you turn into Jessica?" It wasn't like Angela to react like this.

"When you decided to marry Edward Cullen!" She oozed with girliness that wasn't usually there in Angela's eyes. She drew out the syllables of 'Edward,' making him seem like the most popular guy in Hollywood movies. But he was so much more. "Now, SPILL!"

"Fine!" I couldn't help the small smile that escaped my lips. "It was last night, and it was sort of messed up by Alice." Angela, being a good listener, did not intrude, so I would have to continue.

I lost all interest in hiding my ecstasy, and gave her the entire play-by-play of the previous night, all the way up to when I fell asleep.

"Oh my God! Bella Cullen. Hmmm, Bella Cullen. I like it!" She really was a good friend.

"So do I."

We stared at the ring for at least five more minutes. Then we decided that we should probably get going to next period.

As I stood up, however, the ring fell off my finger, slitting itself off with the strap of my bag.

"Shoot!" I scrambled to pick it up. But who would get there first, but Jessica Stanley?

**Sorry it's so short, review PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Chi**


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